Garcinia gardneriana (Planchon & Triana) Zappi. (Clusiaceae) as a topical anti-inflammatory alternative for cutaneous inflammation.

Garcinia gardneriana is popularly used in skin disorders; therefore, this article investigated the effect of G. gardneriana extracts from leaves, bark and seeds and two isolated compounds in ear oedema and leucocytes migration caused by croton oil. The topical application of the extract of G. gardneriana leaves was able to reduce (70 ± 3%, and ID(50) 0.33 mg/ear) ear oedema, while the seeds (51 ± 5%) and the wood (60 ± 12%) extracts were less effective. In a time-course evaluation, the leaf extract (1 mg/ear) was effective when applied 2 hr before and until 3 hr after the stimulation, presenting a higher effectiveness when applied right after croton oil (83 ± 7% inhibition). In addition, the leaf extract was able to diminish the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in 64 ± 13%, which suggests the inhibition of leucocyte infiltration that was confirmed by histological analysis. Also, both biflavonoids isolated from the leaves of G. gardneriana, fukugetin (or morelloflavone) and 13-naringenin-II 8-eriodictyol (GB-2a), were able to reduce ear oedema, with ID(50) values of 0.18 (0.10-0.28) and 0.22 (0.15-0.31) mg/ear, respectively, besides the inhibition of MPO activity of 52 ± 6% and 64 ± 5%, respectively. Using the fluorescent probe 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate, the leaf extract, fukugetin and GB-2a topically applied to the ear treated with croton oil reduced 52 ± 15%, 63 ± 17% and 83 ± 4%, respectively, the production of reactive oxygen species of the skin. Thus, these results reveal the anti-inflammatory effect of G. gardneriana leaves for topical usage, and both biflavonoids are responsible for this effect.